Guitar Pro 5 is marketed as a multitrack tablature editor for guitar, banjo and bass. The software is produced by Arobas Music, and allows you to write scores, write Guitar TAB, print out scores, and more. For example, you can play your song back, look up chords and scales, set up loops, tune your guitar (if you can connect it to your computer), and use is as a learning environment. All for $59. But, how is it in actual use? Read my Hands On Review of Guitar Pro 5 to find out.

Quick Notes

Well, the summer certainly has passed quickly, and I've spent a number of hours on other ventures. But, I was lucky enough to set aside a bit more time than usual for playing, and working on the site.

First, I was pressed into bass-guitar service when our church bassist went out of the country. What was it like? Quite fun, actually. I kept it as basic as I could, essentially sticking to the bass note of each chord, and throwing in a chromatic run every once in a while. The great thing about this change of pace was that it sort of re-invigorated me. I spent more time practicing recently. The lesson: maybe we should all borrow someone else's instrument once in a while to put some spark back into our practice sessions. Speaking of which, a friend of mine recently purchased one of the new Taylor solid body electrics. Sweet! I think I'll see if I can borrow it ;-)

The web store is now up (www.SelectSoundsLLC.com) but has limited products and a very standard layout. My project for September is to improve the look, feel, layout, and product selection. In the meantime, if you need anything offered, I would appreciate your support.

SIDEBAR: Keep up to date with all the changes by subscribing to our RSS feed (click to open a window of help and subscription instructions). It will keep you up to date with new pages and other special announcements. I will not overload you with every grammar-fix, new image, or other minor mod.

Guitar Shapes

As a Taylor guitar owner I am also a subscriber to Wood & Steel, the companies quarterly magazine of news, announcements, articles, and reviews. All things Taylor, so to speak.

The latest issue has an article that discusses guitar shapes: It's a great overview of how shape affects the tone and volume of your instrument. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I thought I'd share it with you. It's called "Curve Appeal" To get a PDF version, simply click to download the Summer 2008 Issue of Wood and Steel. The article also covers the tone characteristics of the most popular acoustic guitars on the market (focusing on the Taylor line-up, but the same comments apply to any manufacturer).